12/08/12 – First snow day for us and Summit West at Snoqualmie Pass. Arrived early and anxious at 0815, and kitted up to get in line for first chair at Little Thunder where the inexperienced liftie let Tom load too early right behind a patroller. They stopped him at the top for a few minutes while they cleared up some ropes that could tangle newbies, then off he went to Pacific Crest to join up with Kerry. Snow was pretty good, grooming had done a pretty good job with the couple of feet that they had to work with, and we found shin deep freshies out in the stick-dodging areas. The opening day crowd was building up pretty fast, so they opened up Wildside in addition to LT, PC, and Dodge ridge. Many wild whoops were whooped. Visibility started out pretty flat due to the early light and snowfall, but got better as the morning went along. It was fun recognizing and being recognized by several of the lifties that we say hello to every season. TomK & Kerry
12/09/12 – Sunday at Summit West for another good day of getting the feel for the snow back and making turns. A little more of a normal start at 0900, due to someone needing to pick up their season passes, still let us load up without a lift line. PC looked pretty busy, so we just cycled Dodge Ridge to let the first-dayer’s kinks get worked out. Hooked up with and made a run with a couple of fellow Hyakers that typically hike for turns in the side and backcountry and they were surprised at how wiped they got from cycling without resting between runs. Snow was heavier after having settled and just a trace of new made off-piste only OK as it was still pretty chopped up from yesterday’s tracks. Called it early for lunch and that was day 2. TomK & Kerry, and Chad & Karrie
Both days were low key and yet still fun.
